The kids are naturally going to want to share their knowledge, but they also
have a great fascination about the secrecy too.

I've done letterboxing with scouts and with campers. A lot of it depends on
the age.
-kim (Rustypuff)


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

In a message dated 9/22/03 9:26:15 PM, HANNAHKAT@aol.com writes:

<< A lot of it depends on
the age. >>

They're all 10 or 11. I know most of them from previous years, but there are
a few new ones, too. They're mostly good kids who follow the rules, but who
knows if it might seem "cool" to head off on their own. :::sigh:::

My husband suggested hiding our own box just for the occasion, and making it
clear to the boys that it won't be there anymore after we find it. Maybe
that's the answer.

DebBee

What about placing a temporary letterbox specific to the event?
Then, you can always hide it in another location after the event for
other finders in the area. That way, if they ever want to check up
on it, they'll have to find & follow the new set of clues?

Hope this helps! Letterboxing & scouting seem like a natural
combination!!!

dvn2r ckr

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, StDebb@a... wrote:
> Anybody here have experience letterboxing with Cub Scouts? I saw
some
> pictures of some on the Yahoo site.
>
> My husband just raised a concern, however, that the boys, once
they know the
> box is there, will leave our camping area, both on this trip and
future trips,
> and go poking around the box, calling attention to it, and
possibly leaving
> it exposed.
>
> DebBee

I've done it with ages 9 to 12. Usually the older kids understand well enough
the importance of not being reckless about hiding places. They usually
develop a sense of ownership about a box. They are proud to get it, and don't want
it to be too easy for the next person. However, they will sometimes get
impatient too quickly if they are boxing with someone who hasn't found a box yet.
They will want to show them where it is without letting them find it on their
own. I just remind them how great it feels to find it on your own, and tell them
to come away from the area and let the other person find it themselves.

-Kim


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Okay, well, one way or another, we're going letterboxing. Otherwise, I have
no plan for the den meeting tomorrow night! We'll carve our stamps, and
then I still have a couple of weeks before I have to figure out what to do
about the actual hunt. I'll also know the new boys a bit better after we suffer
;-) through our first meeting together.

I can make this work.

DebBee

Idea! How about tasking each scout with not only carving a small
stamp about a particular theme but with actually creating a clue and
a box, too? The boxes don't have to be big--several of mine are
merely 35 mm film canisters which aren't expensive if you pick up a
bag of empty ones at your local film developer--I'm sure they'd be
happy to get rid of them. Then cut printer paper into thin long
strips--about 1-1/2" in width. Stack several of these strips on top
of eachother, fold in the middle, staple three times along the
fold/crease at the top--and you've got your logbook. Cut your
carving medium into 1"x1/2" pieces and let them carve away. You've
got an inexpensive letterbox and a great tool for teaching so many
incredible things to the scouts. Have the scouts come up with their
own trail names.

Ideas for clues:
using a compass for directions
pace count
research local history
or stick to a theme for the entire troop

Then, during the campout they're tasked with actually finding a
hiding spot and drafting clues that would lead others to the box.
Instant craft, history, orienteering, problem solving, hiking,
writing skill craft badge! ;) Oh, if the kids get really excited,
it may wear off on their parents and then you may have a whole new
letterboxing community in your midst! ;)

Hope you have a great meeting tomorrow evening!

dvn2r ckr
(who loves to generate ideas!!!)

--- In letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com, StDebb@a... wrote:
> Okay, well, one way or another, we're going letterboxing.
Otherwise, I have
> no plan for the den meeting tomorrow night! We'll carve our
stamps, and
> then I still have a couple of weeks before I have to figure out
what to do
> about the actual hunt. I'll also know the new boys a bit better
after we suffer
> ;-) through our first meeting together.
>
> I can make this work.
>
> DebBee

In a message dated 9/22/03 9:59:57 PM, dvn2rckr@yahoo.com writes:

<< dvn2r ckr

(who loves to generate ideas!!!) >>

And you're darned good at it, too! I'll have to think about this one. Maybe
if they seem to like letterboxing, we can do it at the next campout. We go
once a month, so there's ALWAYS a "next" one, it seems!

Thank you!

DebBee

>
HI
I'm a scoutmaster in RI and I've found that scouts love the search. Letterboxing helps them understand the use of a compass like I've never could get across by anyother method. Although most of the boxes we have visited have been far from home,the scouts have treated the boxes with respect.

At your campout try planting some of your own letterboxes for the event, maybe have the stamps spell out the Scout Law. After the event Ask the scout families that attend if they would like to adopt a box. Cub Scouting is a family run group and letterboxing fits right in. In the 6 months that I've been letterboxing, 3 families from my troop have started boxing.

Have a Great Campout.
Trail Turtle



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I have been thinking about this for my AHG troop. I was considering,
instead of having them find an established box, placing a few boxes just
for the scouts. Maybe even startign with simple boxes arouund the school
to teach them the ethics of boxing--discretion, careful rehiding, respectign
the environment. I think it wouldl be good to have them place a box or two
as well, to get that "ownership" high. My tentative plan is to do thsi in
an area where there are o boxes yet so as to avoid spoiling others;'. I
still havne't decided , so will be interested in what others say.

Leaving the campsite for any reason would be a major violation of the
rules for us--as I am sure it is for you. Never hurts to emphasize the
"rules" and consequences!

Mama Stork
aka Pam in Cinci
F21


> -----Original Message-----
> From: StDebb@aol.com [mailto:StDebb@aol.com]
> Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 9:16 PM
> To: letterbox-usa@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: [LbNA] Cub Scouts and Letterboxes
>
>
> Anybody here have experience letterboxing with Cub Scouts? I
> saw some
> pictures of some on the Yahoo site.
>
> There's a box hidden in the park where we're having our pack
> campout next
> month, and I'd planned to have our Webelos den carve their
> stamps tomorrow night
> at the den meeting, and then go as a den to find the box when
> we camp out.
>
> My husband just raised a concern, however, that the boys,
> once they know the
> box is there, will leave our camping area, both on this trip
> and future trips,
> and go poking around the box, calling attention to it, and
> possibly leaving
> it exposed.
>
> Naturally, we don't want them messing with the box once
> they're stamped in,
> and we certainly don't want to tempt them to leave the Scout
> camping area on
> their own. I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on the subject.
>
> DebBee
>
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> http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
>
>
>

So far, so good. My Cubs *loved* carving their stamps tonight, and they
seemed to like the idea of the hunt, too. A couple of the parents were really
interested, too, and asked about how to find clues.

And the new kids are great. Even the one I thought would be the troublemaker
and lead expeditions off to destroy the letterbox during the campout turned
out to be much better behaved than expected.

DebBee, one happy Cub Scout Leader

Interesting you mention this - we are taking our Wolf
Den camping with the pack in a few weeks, and my
daughter and I are going to go and hide a few boxes in
the park where they will be, then give clues to our
den at least, if not the whole pack. Even my husband,
the Wolf den leader, won't know where the boxes are!
We do plan on picking them back up at the end of the
weekend though. We considered doing real letterboxing
with them, but decided we wanted to test the waters
with them with our own placed boxes, so they don't
mess up someone else's boxes either inadvertantly or
deliberately. Once we have a better feel for the
boys' affinity to letterboxing, we will probably take
them venturing out to real boxes. Of course, our
little guys are a little too young (7 years old) to
carve their own stamps!

BarefootLucy




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Lucy:

If you go to the letterboxing.org site and click on the kids section there is a section for carving stamps for kids. In fact it says, "Want to carve stamps & not say "OW!" ? Carve without sharp tools... We'll show You how!" It looks pretty easy and I think 7 year olds could handle it with proper adult supervision!

I was planning on doing letterboxing with my Webelos group. But I might try introducing the whole pack at our camping trip next month with specially placed boxes just for them!

Peppermint Patti
(Cubmaster, Pack 26)

----- Original Message -----
From: "Barefoot Lucy"

Of course, our
> little guys are a little too young (7 years old) to
> carve their own stamps!
>
> BarefootLucy
>
>


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hmmm...that's a very good idea! I had seen that
section, but hadn't paid much attention to it.

I think we may try boxing and letting them sign in
first, to see how the hunting goes. If they have fun,
we can carve stamps and add the stamping element at
the next campout.

Lucy


--- Peppermint Patti wrote:
> Lucy:
>
> If you go to the letterboxing.org site and click on
> the kids section there is a section for carving
> stamps for kids. In fact it says, "Want to carve
> stamps & not say "OW!" ? Carve without sharp
> tools... We'll show You how!" It looks pretty easy
> and I think 7 year olds could handle it with proper
> adult supervision!
>
> I was planning on doing letterboxing with my Webelos
> group. But I might try introducing the whole pack at
> our camping trip next month with specially placed
> boxes just for them!
>
> Peppermint Patti
> (Cubmaster, Pack 26)
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Barefoot Lucy"
>
> Of course, our
> > little guys are a little too young (7 years old)
> to
> > carve their own stamps!
> >
> > BarefootLucy
> >
> >
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been
> removed]
>
>


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In a message dated 9/24/03 10:01:16 AM, barefootlucy@yahoo.com writes:

<< I think we may try boxing and letting them sign in >>

You can always go with a thumbprint!

DebBee

My daughter and I went out yesterday to plant our
boxes for this weekend's cub scout campout. We
planted five boxes in Mission Tejas State Park, here
in Texas. All the boxes are within walking distance
of our campsite. I expect it will take them about
three hours to find them all. We'll be taking them
back up at the end of the weekend, although we may
replant them at a later time with good stamps.

We used a variety of hints - paces, compass direction,
and visual clues. For the boxes themselves, we put
stickers in them, so that each boy will get a sticker
to put into their book and then we'll let them
thumbprint in per your suggestion DebBee! We figure
we'll see how they do with the boxing itself, and if
they enjoy it, we'll work on carving and getting more
creative.

Silver Eagle and Baby Bear have two boxes planted in
the same park. We had already found them on an
earlier visit, but we walked right past them as we
planted our own! Kind of fun knowing these boys will
be running past the real thing on their way to the
ones we planted! We did try to check on Baby Bear's
box, but we couldn't remember precisely where it was.
We checked the area pretty thoroughly and didn't find
it, so we are going to take the clues for her box back
with us this weekend to check it. We'll check Silver
Eagle's while we are there too.

My 7 year old son went with us too, although he forgot
to take his shoes - remembered his gameboy but forgot
his shoes to hike in? - grrrr! He wound up staying in
the car and ran the battery down - another grrrr! We
got back to the car after the ranger's station closed,
were parked well out of cell phone range, so I started
the hike to the station anyway in hopes of finding a
place where my cell phone would work, or at least
planning on finding a pay phone at the entrance.
Fortunately, we ran into the only camper in the park
and he had cables, so we got a jump. As it happened,
the camper was an old friend of my parents'! What a
small world! Good thing we ran into him too - we had
to drive about 10 miles out of the park before my cell
phone started working again! Note to self - check the
kid for shoes before we walk out the door!

Even in spite of the car trouble, it was a good day
all in all. Now to find out how cub scouts fare with
letterboxing!

Lucy



--- StDebb@aol.com wrote:
>
> In a message dated 9/24/03 10:01:16 AM,
> barefootlucy@yahoo.com writes:
>
> << I think we may try boxing and letting them sign
> in >>
>
> You can always go with a thumbprint!
>
> DebBee
>


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barefootlucy@yahoo.com writes:

<< Now to find out how cub scouts fare with letterboxing! >>

Do report back on how it goes! I guess I'll whip up a few boxes for our
campout. Since I may very well have 8-9 boys from our den there, it'd be better
if they're not all going after the same box at the same time anyway.

Our campout is NEXT weekend, so maybe I'll get to hear how yours went before
we do ours. (Handy bit of scheduling, there.)

DebBee, who has *NO* problem believing your son remembered his Game Boy but
not his shoes!!!